Warming Hut parcel to be protected with easement

Club, land trust protect 23 acres on Donner Summit

The Sierra Club and Truckee Donner Land Trust announced on July 24 that the 23-acre "Warming Hut" parcel, adjacent to the Club's Clair Tappaan Lodge in the Donner Summit area, will be preserved with a conservation easement purchased by the land trust with the help of anonymous donors.

The easement will preclude future development of the property while ensuring continuation of current recreational opportunities, preserving wildlife habitat and open space, and helping protect the Boreal Ridge watershed. The volunteer Clair Tappaan Lodge Committee plans to refurbish the Warming Hut and re-open it for visitors in 2009.

"This conveyance is another chapter in a 20-year effort to protect important recreational, historic, and scenic open spaces at Truckee's doorstep," said Perry Norris, executive director of the land trust.

"Donner Summit is a key piece in the history of the Sierra range as well as the history of the Sierra Club. We're grateful to our generous donors and the Truckee Donner Land Trust for helping us protect this special place for generations to come," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club.

The Truckee Donner Land Trust is a non-profit organization that works to preserve and protect important historic, recreational, and scenic open spaces in the greater Truckee region.